Discrimination vs. Niche

Jayda Kelsall said she was riding her bike along Bank Street when a sign promising a cheap haircut caught her eye.

She said she went inside the Imperial Barber Shop and was told to go somewhere else.

-CBC: Ottawa barbershop won't cut woman's hair

I read this article today in my news feed. Basically, a woman went into a barber shop, where she was refused a hair cut.

On one level, I completely agree that one's gender should not affect what rights and privileges one is accorded. On another, though, men and women tend to have different preferences in terms of hair styles, so it's not out of the realm of possibility that people will specialize in one or another, either personally, or for the shop they own. That, to me, doesn't seem so bad. But then I think of things like the private golf clubs that didn't allow women to join or play. In my opinion, that crosses a line. When I try to think why that crosses a line, I believe it's because I don't see a whole lot of fundamental difference in women playing golf and men playing golf. I see no justification for the specialization, other than some men simply deciding they don't want women around. That seems to be discrimination based on gender.

Back to the barber shop, I don't think they have the right to refuse service based on gender. If a woman walks into a barber shop that specialises in traditional men's professional hair cuts, and doesn't wear a hair style that is similar to that, she should certainly be warned that their expertise doesn't lend itself to her being particularly satisfied with their results. Perhaps if they have a good relationship with a nearby place, they can even suggest that instead. If she insists, though, then she knows the risks, and I don't think they can still refuse.

The woman in question, or, more pertinently, person in question also wore her hair in a mohawk. I'm not terribly familiar with the shop location at which this incident occurred, but the one near my office very clearly looks like a traditional barber shop, which I expect would specialize in traditional male hair cuts. I wouldn't personally believe a mohawk is difficult to shave and trim, but it is certainly not a professional-style traditional male hair cut, and if I wore one, I wouldn't choose this particular shop for my hair maintenance.

All in all, I think my opinion of this matter is that the shop was not out of line to suggest to this woman she would be better to try a competitor, and I suspect the true issue here should be the professionalism of the individual who said so; the employee likely was impolite or brusque, and the prospective customer likely got her hackles up. Probably some level of confrontation ensued, and it resulted in hurt pride or feelings. This probably would never have made headlines if the staff had dealt with it better.